Sunday, January 22, 2012

Recipe of the month: Badam Puri


Whenever I have to prepare an Indian sweet dish for a festival, party or potluck, I inevitably shudder. To call myself an amateur at making Indian sweets would be an understatement. So far, my Indian sweet-making repertoire has been limited to a few simple kheers, coconut burfi as well as gulab jamun and rasmalai (the latter two made using the instant mix 😝). 

For someone like me, who really enjoys cooking, attempting to analyze why no efforts were made to learn comes to a very simple conclusion - I have never been overly fond of Indian sweets. Actually, come to think of it, I am not that much of a 'dessert person' to begin with. Probably the only few Indian sweets that I wholeheartedly relish are hot and crispy jelabis, kaju/badam burfis and motichoor laddus.

So one day, a week before Ganesh Chaturthi, I was on the phone with my MIL, lamenting about my lack of interest and skill in sweet-making with regard to festival preparations and she suggested that I try making badam puri. Not wanting to sound like an idiot, I racked my brain trying to remember what badam puris look and taste like. After listening to my ummmmm's and errrrrrr's I guess she figured out how clueless I was and proceeded to explain how she makes them.  I then remembered tasting them in the past and was relieved by a fleeting memory of even liking them. As is the case with most seasoned home cooks, she never uses a recipe because she can easily gauge the proportions and (unsurprisingly) they always turn out great. She convinced me that they are very easy to make and that it doesn't take too much skill. I figured this ought to be a very achievable task so I began hunting for a recipe on the internet. One of the very first recipes that I came across was from a nice blog called Sum's cuisineLooking at the recipe and pictures, I instinctively felt that this would turn out well and I was right. Although this sweet dish is called badam puri, it is not mandatory that it should have any 'badam' (almond) in it but I recommend that you garnish it with almond slivers to enhance the taste and texture.

Here is the adapted recipe from the above-mentioned link. I modified it slightly according to my preferences and convenience. If you are intimidated by trying to prepare Indian sweets (like me), you should try this recipe. In my opinion, if I could do it....anyone can.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Restaurant review: Bali Thai, Singapore


As Singapore was gearing up to welcome the lunar new year, a friend and I decided to celebrate the commencement of the holidays by catching up over dinner. 

We decided on Bali Thai as our catch-up venue. This restaurant offers a range of Malay/Indonesian, Indo Chinese and Thai dishes. From its humble beginning of only one restaurant in a suburban mall in 1993, Bali Thai has emerged to be one of the most renowned restaurants in Singapore that caters to the taste buds of Thai and Indonesian food enthusiasts. Since then, Bali Thai has multiple restaurants in the various parts of Singapore, as well as in China.

I haven't sampled much of Indonesian or Malay cuisine but I have tried a variety of Thai dishes. And who doesn't love Thai food? I love the color, vibrancy, zing and flavor of this cuisine. Some of the best Thai dishes I have ever had was on a holiday to Phuket and whenever I go to a restaurant which serves Thai dishes, I hope to rekindle those strong food memories. 

I had been to Bali Thai in Singapore before and although the food there cannot be compared to what I had in Thailand, it still is pretty good (but then again, I guess it is a bit of an unfair comparison). Also, keep in mind that the quality of your dining also depends on which branch you go to. I've heard that the Bali Thai at IMM and Novena square are the better outlets.




Sunday, January 1, 2012

Movie Review: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol


I would like to begin this post by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2012. I wish you good health, happiness, success and prosperity in the new year.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported my blog thus far and helped me improve on it with their valuable feedback.

Now, coming back to my post...

Movie Review: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

A few weeks ago, I went to catch the screening of the much awaited Mission Impossible - Ghost protocol. I have been a huge fan of the Mission Impossible series and I always wait with great gusto for the next installment to come out. As a child, my favorite superhero was Spiderman but as an adult, my two favorites have been Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt. I enjoyed the previous three Mission impossible movies (I and III especially) so I was eagerly awaiting to watch this one. I hold the director Brad Bird in high esteem as The Incredibles and Ratatouille are two movies which rank at the top of my list of greatest animated movies of all time. Although I didn't doubt his capability, I was certainly curious to see how he would contribute to this hugely successful and highly anticipated action-packed series. 

The movie screening was in IMAX, one of my favorite theaters in Singapore. With larger-than-life crystal clear images on a gigantic screen, enhanced by state-of-the-art digital surround sound, watching a movie there is an incredibly thrilling experience.